Peering out my window, I find it hard to image that baseball
is only one month away from its annual migration north. The 2015 Red Sox
version of “The Boys of Summer” are busily putting in the work for the
franchise’s 115th campaign while the burly arms of winter have
wrapped themselves around us in an all encompassing sea of white. It has been a
historic month of snowfall here in the Maritimes which I’m sure has been
equaled in girth for our neighbors in the New England states. Bitterly cold
temperatures have also been recorded, furthering my desire to see some type of
finality from the brutal might of Mother Nature.
One of those tell-tale signs of its winter’s end is the
commencement of Spring Training. It is felt by many baseball fans that the New
Year doesn’t truly begin until the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues gear up.
Actually, in the ancient Roman calendar, March was the first month of the year
which makes a lot of sense to me with regards to baseball. However, we should
temper our enthusiasm with regards to the banter we have heard since pitchers
and catchers reported and the statistics and that will soon be registered as
the games begin. Unlike Caesar, who chose to be oblivious when warned by the soothsayer
of his impending demise, we must remain alert and not be fooled by false hope
with that catastrophic 2014 season still somewhat fresh in our minds. Some of the more outlandish prophecies that have
surfaced are:
- there are five number #1 starters on staff
- Boston will hang onto all 6 outfielders throughout the season
- Jackie Bradley Jr. is the best centerfielder in baseball (if he didn’t have to hit…yup)
Also, statistically there isn’t much merit in this rite
of spring. It simply whets our appetite before the main course. Think of Spring
Training as a nice salad, or with the winter we have endured, maybe a steaming,
hot bowl of soup before the meal. You’ll always remember how good or bad your
food was but the appetizers become quite forgettable, especially if the main course
is particularly satisfying.
As many of you are well aware, Spring Training is a time
to stretch out pitchers, establish routine and familiarity among teammates, evaluate
talent on the farm (careful here as you’ll see further below) and work on the many
aspects of the game that will breed success. Looking back at the previous
Spring Training camps, it is quite apparent that one should not get too high or
low on how players’ Grapefruit statistics will project throughout the course of
a season. Here are Boston’s offensive statistical leaders for the past five spring
seasons:
2010 – Jeremy Hermida > 40AB/ 6XBH/ &RBI/ .450/.500/1.150
On November 5th 2009, Hermida was traded to
the Red Sox from the Florida Marlins for Hunter Jones and Jose Alvalrez. When
called up in 2005, Hermida hit a grand slam in his very first at bat a la
Daniel Nava. It seemed the sky was the limit as he established himself in 2007,
clubbing 18 homers and turning in a slash of .296/.369/.970. However, the
injury bug bit Jeremy hard as he bottomed out in 2009 with a slugging
percentage of .392, and the Marlins gave up on him. Former Boston GM Theo
Epstein looked at Hermida as a reclamation project:
“We still think there's a good hitter in there ... Jeremy
[Hermida] is a player who hasn't fulfilled his potential yet. We were able to
acquire him at a reasonable cost to see if he can fulfill that potential with
us.”
The 2010 season was
also dubbed the infamous “Bridge Year” by Epstein, and it was the first season
since 2006 that Boston missed the playoffs. In what was one of Epstein’s
biggest follies, the brain trust supplanted Jacoby Ellsbury in center by aging Mike
Cameron. After Jacoby was moved to left where he was consequently run over in
Kansas City by Adrian Beltre and lost for the season.
With the increased playing time offered to
Hermida, he was unable to prove there “was a hitter in there” batting .207 with
5 homers 27 RBI and an OPS of.605. He was released later in the season
finishing up with the A’s. He has recently resurfaced with the Brewers signing
on this past January and hasn’t appeared in the Majors since 2012.
2011 – Jarrod
Saltalmacchia > 37AB/ 7XBH/ 10RBI/.405/.465/1.114
In the year of the
epic collapse, Jarrod Saltalamacchia asserted himself offensively, and his
production behind the plate has yet to be rediscovered by the Red Sox. Salty
joined the Sox at the end of the 2010 season as he was traded for the ever
popular PTBNL (ended up being first baseman Chris McGuiness and pitcher Roman
Mendez) along with some cash. Salty averaged 18 homers 60RBI and slashed
.243/.305/.761 during his time in Boston.
Despite his pop, he
was an all or nothing proposition at times as he averaged a 30% strikeout
percentage in his three plus seasons. Jarrod also had major defensive maladies,
and at one point before joining the Red Sox, had trouble even throwing the ball
back to the pitcher. This was Epstein’s take on Jarrod:
"He came with a real high price tag
in the past, and we hope he's someone we're buying low on right now as he's
battling a few different issues. He's
throwing the ball back to the pitcher fine and throwing to the bases pretty
well. We feel like he's a classic guy with a high ceiling who needs a change of
scenery."
Due to his poor
decision making, erratic throwing and questionable game calling, Salty lost the
confidence of management on occasion. It was no coincidence that in the World
Series clinching game in 2013, that it was David Ross hugging Koji Uehara after
the final out. This was the writing on the wall for Salty, and he was not
offered a contract for 2014. Instead, he signed with the Marlins where it seems
his career is now on the decline.
2012 – Darnell McDonald > 38AB/ 6 XBH/ 6 RBI/ .487/.512/ 1.327
This spring marked Boston’s first season at Jet Blue Park, and Darnell McDonald did his best to christen the new digs. After signing in 2009 as a free agent, Darnell was a popular figure in the clubhouse and a feel good story for the Red Sox in 2010. With the Red Sox outfield in shambles with Ellsbury and Cameron on the shelf, Darnell batted .270 with 9 homers and 34 RBI in 117 games.
In the polarizing
2012 season, authored by egocentric manager Bobby Valentine in which Boston
finished in last place and lost more than 90 games for the first time since
1966, Darnell resurfaced in the Red Sox outfield. Due to injuries to Carl
Crawford and Jacoby Ellsbury (again), Boston picked up Marlon Byrd but things
just didn’t seem to work out and he was released, paving the way for McDonald.
Ironically, Boston had to free up a roster spot for a healthy Daisuke
Matsuzaka (Remember Bobby said he could fix him due to his experience in Japan?
Dice – K went 1-7 8.28 ERA that season)
so they were banking on contributions from McDonald. This was Valentine’s take
on McDonald:
“It was a decision between Darnell and
Marlon. Darnell has a little more history here, and we think he can give us a
little more extra-base power.''
However, it didn’t happen for McDonald as he only hit .214
with 2 homers and 9 RBI. He was claimed off waivers from Boston by the Yankees to
finish a very forgettable 2012 season and has since retired. Darnell now works
in the Cubs front office as baseball operations assistant.
2013 – Jackie Bradley Jr. > 62AB/ 7XBH/ 12RBI/
.419/.507/1.120
Remember the three headed monster in the outfield of this
spring? It was down to Mike Carp, Ryan Sweeney and Bradley for two of the final
three outfield spots. The 22-year-old Bradley entered 2013 as the second-ranked
prospect in the Red Sox farm system and 27th overall, according to Baseball
Prospectus. With David Ortiz on the DL with inflamed heels, Bradley’s hot
spring propelled him to the forefront as they wanted a guy who could handle the
bat in Ortiz’s stead (How’s that for a rib tickler?). Jackie was then ticketed
for an opening day start in the Bronx and Sweeney was shown the door. That
horrendous April saw Bradley hitting.097 on the 17th of April, and
he was returned to Pawtucket. Included in his final stats was the fact that he
struck out 31 times in 107 trips to the plate.
Jackie’s calling card has been his remarkable defense as he
is one of the best defensive centerfielders I’ve had the pleasure to watch.
However, batting averages of .189 and .198 in his first two professional
seasons will simply not allow him, or anyone else regardless of defensive
prowess, to maintain a spot on the lineup card. He’s now seeing the likes of
Rusney Castillo and Mookie Betts pass him by when it was once thought he was
the heir apparent to Jacoby Ellsbury. Here’s what Baseball Prospectus had to
say about Bradley at the dish in 2013:
“Bradley can
handle the stick, but he does have some areas to improve upon (go on…really?) .
The left-handed hitter generates plus bat speed via quick hands, but he runs
into some timing issues when he lands on his front too early, and he can be
susceptible to offerings on the inner third due to some over-extension in his
swing. Bradley does have the hit tool and batting eye to hit .285-.295 with
continued adjustments.”
Yeah well…ummm… let’s just try to hit .200
and go from there. This past season, in the history of the Red Sox, no batter
with fewer than 425 plate appearances struck out as many times in a season as Jackie
Bradley Jr. last season. Bradley whiffed 121 times in 423 plate appearances.
There was a buzz about Bradley’s willingness to be coached as several coaches had talked about Bradley needing to
shorten his swing. Bradley blew it off saying that was all “just talk”. Jackie went on to say “Your swing
is short when you hit the ball and long when you miss it”. Well Jackie, you’re
taking some mighty long hacks by the look of things as of late. Cherington
quashed all that talk about coachability and chalked up Bradley’s comments to
frustration which is understandable.
Bradley is the
only one on this list who remains with the club moving into the 2015 season.
Once thought to be ensconced in the Red Sox future plans, he now seems to be
dangling by a thread. In any event, like many of you, I will be rooting for him
this year even if it means a change of scenery.
2014 - Will
Middlebrooks > 51AB/ 7XBH/ 9 RBI/ .353/.389/1.056
Like Bradley
the year before, Middlebrooks was given a heavy dose of plate appearances and
the early returns held promise as can be seen above. Boston had hoped that he
had finally arrived.
After bursting on the scene in 2012, his
production relegated incumbent and fan favorite Kevin Youkilis to the pines, into
Bobby Valentine’s doghouse and eventually punched Youk’s ticket to the Windy
City (Remember Valentine putting Gonzalez in the outfield to try and fit Youk
into the lineup?). In 75 games that season, he smacked 15 homers and drove in
54 while hitting .288. It looked as though the Red Sox had found a cornerstone
young gun for the future.
Then injuries
hit, and Will just couldn’t stay on the field. He followed up in 2013 with 17
homers and 49 RBI but his batting average dropped to .227. The strikeouts rose
as he was consistently fooled by the breaking ball. If you
combine the 2013-14 seasons, Will played in 157 games, but batted .213 with 168
strikeouts. That’s as close to a full season that Boston would ever get
from him. His progress seemingly grinded to a halt in 2014. When healthy, which
wasn’t near often enough, he couldn’t even wrestle playing time away from “Jack
of all Trades” Brock Holt.
I tend to refrain from agreeing with Tony
Massarotti but he hit the nail on the head when he said “Middlebrooks’
crime here is that he never wanted the responsibility that came along with his
talent” (Boston Globe Dec. 23, 2014). Boston attempted to point him in the
right direction by encouraging him to play winter ball, but he flatly refused.
He took his ball… er… girl and went home.
Ben Cherington was quoted by saying
after trading him to San Diego for Ryan Hanigan:
“My guess is
he’ll find a way to flourish in the big leagues. I’ll be rooting for him. …
Obviously we’re not trading Will at a particularly high point right now, we
understand that. But hopefully this is an opportunity for him and an
opportunity for us, too.”
Why do I get the sinking feeling we’ll be
saying the exact same thing about Jackie Bradley Jr.? Will is currently
battling with former Yankee Yangervis Solarte for the starting third base job
but is also getting a chance at first base as well.
So there you have it. I won’t be buying
into the buzz of spring stats, (Can you say Grady Sizemore without dying a
little inside?) but it’ll be interesting to see how this year’s “Mr. March”
translates when they begin playing for real in April.
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